It's Never a Good Idea
by RosieShiba
Summary: AU. Dawn's fall from grace was painful, all of her friends turning their backs on her. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't May's fault in the first place. IS, CS. High school setting.
1. How it all started

I'm trying to kick start my writing by starting a short multi-chapter fanfic. After this I'll get straight back on with Owari and Magic and Spells, promise. Currently I am unemployed so I'm getting back into my writing again so please bear with me a little longer. I think this story is going to be under ten chapters long, I'm hoping about six but it never goes to plan, does it.

**Warning:** This is a teen story filled with teen sort of conversations of the female variety. Rated T for language and some teenage situations.

**Plot:** Dawn's fall from grace was painful, all of her friends turning their backs on her. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't May's fault in the first place. IS, CS. AU.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

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**How it all started**

This is the story about my fall from grace.

I should have known better than to fall in love with the wrong guy but love isn't one of those things you can control. It just sort of happens out of the blue when you're just falling to sleep at night. It warms your heart without knowing and then suddenly, before you know it, you've fallen so far its impossible to return to where you were. It's just unfortunate for me that I had to fall in love with him. Anyone else would have been better, and I mean anyone else.

May Maple was my best friend. She was a loud, abrasive brunette with a kind heart and a big stomach. We had known each other since we were five years old with her moving into the house next door to mine just before we started school. That summer we had gotten to know each other, becoming inseparable ever since then.

In recent years, May had had a steady stream of boyfriends, from the loveable dope, Ash Ketchum, to the very high maintenance Brendan Birch, but none of them really had anything on her latest boyfriend: Drew Hayden.

What I knew of Drew Hayden before May began dating him was what every other girl knew. He was a handsome, full of himself kind of guy who could flirt his way out of trouble without breaking into a sweat. I have no idea how he managed to charm May into going out with him one day and I have even less of a clue on how she managed to keep him interested past the third date. You see, Drew Hayden had a very low attention span when it came to girls – even lower than Ash Ketchum's attention span in Maths, first period on Monday morning.

That's where all the fun started.

St Mary's School was a very high class school where students were usually either from religious families or were quite well off. May's father, Norman, was a very religious man. My mother was quite a wealthy woman. It was a wonder why May and I hadn't run into trouble before, but as soon as May began dating Drew, our friendship suddenly took a back seat.

First period, Tuesday.

I sat down on the cold plastic chair three rows from the front, second chair along. The chair on my right hand side was reserved for May, should she show up on time. On my left sat Misty, one of our other friends who we had adopted not long after starting St Mary's a few years ago. Misty was unlike May in many ways. Firstly, Misty was a short tempered, ginger haired tom-boy. Secondly, Misty did not like boys. At all. Not one bit. She was good friends with Ash, who sat on her other side, but that was it.

Misty leant back in her chair, pushing it back so it was balanced on two legs. She smiled at me warmly before saying: "When do you think she'll get here?"

"Never," I replied with a laugh. "She's probably hiding in the broom cupboard with Drew."

"Classy," Misty said, suddenly dead panned. She ran a hand through her short hair in a rather boyish gesture before she flicked out her fringe and winked at me. I giggled at the impression of Drew – his most famed hair flick – and Misty grinned at me a little more. She landed her chair on the floor with a sudden jerk. "I don't know what she sees in him."

"That's love," I said with a shrug. "It's a blind beggar."

"It's not love," Misty retorted, wrinkling her nose at me. "It's teenage hormones and horniness."

"That too," I agreed with a nod. The pair of us fell into giggles, earning us a look of contempt from Paul Shinji as he walked into the room. Instead of taking up his seat at the back of the room, he stalked towards Misty and I, both hands shoved into his pockets.

"Are the disaster twins in the broom cupboard again?" he asked me. I smiled at their nickname, thinking how well it suited them. I nodded at Paul causing him to roll his eyes and walk towards his seat at the back of the room. I turned in my seat to watch him as he carefully slid his satchel over his head and placed it by the legs of his chair. Before he sat down, he dug in his pocket for his mobile, tapping furiously on it as he flopped down onto the plastic.

"He actually knows you exist," Misty gasped in feigned horror. Her tone now changed to mimic her three older sister's Valley accent. "He, like, so totally wants you, Dawn."

"Totally," I replied, rolling my eyes. "I can see it in his eyes that he's totally undressing me."

Misty turned to look at Paul, finding he was glaring daggers at his phone as his thumbs thumped on the touch screen. She watched him until he shoved his phone back into his pocket and slouched in his chair.

"Why does he put up with Drew?" she asked.

"Maybe he's his special someone on the side," I muttered in her ear, causing her to go bright red. She turned on me, scowling.

"Say that any sexier, Dawn," she warned me but I laughed it off.

If I had known that it would all start from there, then maybe I wouldn't have smiled at Paul when his eyes suddenly met mine across the classroom. He didn't smile at me, in fact he looked as enthused as he usually did, but his eyes stayed on me for a good few seconds until we both jolted and turned our attention to the teacher walking into the room.

Where ever she had been when she should have been in first period, May appeared for the second lesson of the day sporting a wide smile which made me suspicious of her. I remained mute while she took her pencil case and exercise book out of her bag. She hummed a little as she sat down, smoothing out her skirt over her knees. I turned to Misty beside me, raising an eyebrow.

"I am not going to ask," Misty said loudly. "I just hope you used protection."

May's happy mood came crashing down and she glared at the both of us, a face like thunder.

"Don't be dirty," she snapped. "Nothing happened."

"Honey bun," Misty said sweetly. "If I missed one lesson then arrived in the next with a grin to rival the Cheshire cat, then what would you think I had been up to?"

"Hanging out in the girls' locker room again?" May guessed dismissively. Misty fell silent, turning her head to ignore May completely for the rest of the lesson. I sat awkwardly between the pair, trying to ignore the horrid tension lingering in the air like a fart but it was no use. As soon as I could, I packed up my things and hurried out of the classroom, jogging towards my locker so I could feign going to the bathroom for a 'that time of the month' emergency. By the time May was coming out of the classroom, I was already sprinting towards the girls' bathroom. I saw a faint understanding in her eyes as I pushed the door open, almost knocking a first year off her feet as I barged past.

I hurried into a cubicle and squatted on the toilet seat, summing up my options. Would I go with May or Misty, Misty or May? Oh I hated being the third cog in the wheel sometimes. Just as I was mulling over this, I heard Misty's voice from the other side of the door.

"Does it really take that long to change a tampon?" she sounded grumpy.

"Ew," I moaned at her. "Misty, that's gross."

"Oh, so you're debating life's mysteries then?" she asked.

"Of course," I snapped. I jumped off the toilet and unbolted the door to show her that I wasn't doing anything other than thinking. She merely nodded and pushed me out of the way.

"Shift then, some of us need to pee," she grunted, closing the door in my face. I heard the bolt being turned and I leant on the door. "You're not listening are you 'cos that's kinda gross."

"Do you want me to sing to you, Mist?" I teased. Her silence told me to go on if I dared so I started the first few lines of Stacy's Mom when Misty gave a pained sort of moan.

"Now this is just weird," she said over my singing. I heard the flush and knew it was time to stop leaning on the door. I straightened up not a moment too soon for the door swung open and my bag was shoved into my stomach, winding me. Misty walked over to the sink to wash her hands, ignoring me once again.

"So where is the future Mrs Grasshead?" I asked.

"With the future Mr Grasshead," she replied, "you know, once he gets his operation."

"Do you have this fantasy of Drew being a girl, often?" I asked cheekily and Misty cracked me a smile, saying nothing as she led me out of the bathroom. I followed her down the corridor, not really paying attention to where she was leading me. I glanced own at my blazer pocket and went to pull my phone out of my pocket when I walked straight into someone.

Whoever they were they were tall, muscular and walking very quickly. I ricocheted off them onto the wall before finally touching ground on the floor. Dazed and glad I hadn't managed to free my phone before the accident, I stared at the carpet a fist away from my face.

"Nice undies, Berlitz," I heard someone yell at me. I jumped turned my head to find that my skirt had ridden up to reveal my underwear. I groaned as I adjusted the garment then climbed to my knees, still incredibly dazed from the fall. Just as the world stopped spinning, a hand reached down to help me back up.

It was Paul Shinji. Damn him.

I gently took his hand and he pulled me easily to my feet like I was some sort of rag doll.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"It's my fault," he replied. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I wasn't either," I admitted. I looked round expecting Drew to suddenly appear by his best friend's side but he wasn't there at all. Paul seemed to clue into what I was looking for and gave a click of his tongue.

"He's with May," he said.

"Ew," I replied, my nose wrinkling without my permission. Someone brushed past me, complementing me once again on my choice of underwear and I gave them a scathing look, which on the Shinji scale would have been a definite killer. Misty returned to my side, pulling at my skirt as if it was riding up again. "Hey stop it!"

"Sorry, it was creased," she replied. "You're the one showing your ass off to the entire school."

"It's a good thing today was a good underwear day," I muttered, completely forgetting that Paul was stood right in front of me.

"Yeah, it's also a good job it wasn't that time of the month, either," Misty went on. She suddenly winked at me and gave my butt a slap. "Nice ass by the way."

"I love how girl conversations are just the right amount of creepy to be uncomfortable," Paul mused to himself. Misty and I reddened as we gawked at him. He gave us a good natured grin then walked off. "Look where you're going Berlitz."

"You too, Shinji!" I called after him. I turned to Misty who was still slightly pink in the cheeks. "He now thinks I'm your special someone."

"You wish," she brushed me off. "I have a thing for blondes."

"And grassheads," I added.

"If Drew had a sister..." she trailed off with a perverted grin on her face. I grabbed her hand and dragged her down the corridor towards the next lesson.

**I think Misty came out a bit more pervy than I intended. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please drop me a review to let me know what you thought!**

**RSx**


	2. How it got worse from there

**Here is another chapter of It's Never a Good Idea. Dawn's fall from grace continues as she has to spend more time with Paul. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers: Eeveexme, Dani4Short, GuiltyCrown09, VickytheRandomest, pokegirl185, Cascade00, Ready to Fly and RaveOn-LastYear.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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**How it got worse from there**

May popped up just in time for the next lesson to start, again sporting a grin. She turned to me straight away as soon as her bottom was comfortably placed in the plastic chair. Her smile was unbearable and I counted down the seconds until she broke the worst news possible to me.

"I've arranged a date with Drew," she told me. "I need a chaperone. You're free Saturday night, right?"

It sounded like a question but it was most definitely not one. She was demanding my presence on that Saturday so that I could report to her father that nothing un-proper happened between Drew and May. Without waiting for me to say I was free, May began babbling at me.

"We're going to the cinemas," she went on. "You like horror movies right?"

"No," I replied bluntly.

"Great, you'll really enjoy it then," May said, obviously ignoring me.

"May, you know I hate anything scary," I moaned. "Take Misty instead."

"Don't rope me into this," Misty muttered on my left. "Sucks to be you, Dawn."

"I think Drew was going to ask Paul to go too," May went on as if Misty and I hadn't said anything at all. "It could be like a double date. Hey, you and Paul should totally go steady."

I turned to Misty, pleading for her to help me but all she did was turn away from me, a smirk gracing her lips. Funny that at one time May actually wanted Paul and I to be together but when it finally did happen, she wasn't as warm to the idea as she was then. Needless to say, I kept mute on the subject, not wanting to upset or egg on the already hyper May.

Throughout the rest of the week, I attempted to get out of the 'date' but no matter how I tried, it just wasn't happening. By the time seven o'clock came on Saturday evening, I found that the mood in Norman's car was much better than I expected. He was joking with May in the front seat while I looked out of the window debating my fate for the evening. When we finally arrived at the cinema complex, I was the first out of the car while May was giving her father strict instructions on when to pick us up later. Barely listening, I called a quick 'thanks for the lift' to Norman and slammed the car door behind me. May followed me not soon after and we walked together into the cinema where Drew and Paul were already stood waiting.

Drew and May embraced each other like they were out of some epic war movie about two people torn apart by conflict. I stood awkwardly watching them, hardly noticing that Paul was stood next to me with the same sort of disgusted expression I had. Finally we glanced at each other and he let out a sigh.

"Well, we'd better get this over with," he muttered.

"Please tell me you brought alcohol," I said, my voice coming out more like a whiny plead than a throw away comment. Paul seemed to think about this for a second, suddenly scowling.

"That may have been a good idea," he said. I laughed at him and turned back to see what May and Drew were doing, only to find that they had completely disappeared. I glanced around to see if I could find them but no, it was like they had vanished into thin air. Paul grabbed my elbow and he dragged me over to the escalator. "Drew has the tickets."

"Great!" I moaned as I hurried behind Paul. "Let me guess, they're going to be snogging all the way through this damned movie, aren't they?

I wish I had money on it. No sooner had the lights dimmed did the gruesome twosome start making out next to me. I shuddered in my seat feeling like I was sat between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, Drew and May were disgusting but on the other, I really hated horror movies. Paul, who had somehow managed to sit on my other side, watched the large screen in a sort of bored sort of way. Feeling as though I had no where to turn, I watched the screen while terror flowed through my veins.

It was a truly gruesome film with blood and murderers killing off teenagers with a blunt carving knife. Several times I jumped for no reason, my nails retreating into my mouth so my teeth could chatter onto them. At one point, the killer was slicing up a young girl and I closed my eyes feeling tears burning behind the lids.

Suddenly a comforting hand reached onto mine and I opened my eyes to see Paul staring at me in a concerned sort of way. I removed my fingers from my mouth and allowed his fingers to lace with mine. He slowly got up from his chair and led me out of the cinema, all the while Drew and May kissing each other silly in their seats.

The bright lights outside the theatre dazed me and I stood quite transfixed for a second before Paul tugged at my arm. We walked, hands still rung round each other's, until we reached the small bar area. Paul sat me down and hurried off to get my a drink. It was then and only then that I realised I was shaking. Trembles vibrated throughout my body long after Paul returned with a bottle of spring water. He opened the screw cap and shoved it into my hands, then flopped onto the seat opposite.

"May does know you don't like horror films, right?" he asked. I nodded.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "I just... I just can't stand them."

"They're boring," Paul told me. "I don't see why we had to go see that movie if all they were planning to do was make out. Couldn't we have picked the movie instead?"

"I know," I agreed. "Or for free we could have gone round to my house."

"Yeah, shoved them on another room," Paul said heavily. He stared at me, seemingly happier that I had now stopped shaking. "Your colour is coming back. I thought you were going to pass out."

"Sorry," I said again. "Me and blood are a no-no. I don't see the fun in hacking people to bits either."

"I'd be worried if you did," Paul joked.

We lapsed into a comfortable silence where I drank from the bottle and Paul played with a loose thread on the arm of his chair. Nothing else was said for another twenty minutes when Paul asked me what the story was with May. Over the course of the next hour, we both came to the realisation that May and Drew had nothing in common and had no attraction to each other prior to the start of the relationship a few weeks ago. In fact, we realised their whole relationship was based around kissing and groping each other.

"Ew," I groaned. "That's gross."

"You need to get a boyfriend," Paul suddenly told me and I blushed. "So I won't be dragged to these ridiculous 'double dates'."

"Drew roped you in with the double dates thing too, huh?" I asked with a chuckle.

"May said it was 'cute' apparently," Paul dead-panned. "Honestly, I wish she'd just let him get in her pants then this would all be over."

"Hey! That's my friend you're talking about!" I snapped. He raised an uninterested eyebrow at me and I realised, with some horror, that I actually agreed with him. I cleared my throat. "But she's a devout Catholic."

"Fantastic," Paul moaned. "Does he know this?"

"You tell him," I said. Paul seemed to think about this for a second then a large, evil grin spread across his face.

"Oh this is going to be good," he said darkly.

For the next half an hour we chatted idly about school, Drew's hair style and Misty's boy embargo. I found it refreshing to talk to someone new about things that happened every day. It had been a while since I had talked about the funny things Misty had said to me, and Paul's secrets about Drew's hairstyle proved to be sufficient black mailing material to last me until the senior year of University. As we talked, time ticked away until Paul suddenly looked at his watch and jolted to his feet.

"The film finished ten minutes ago," he told me.

"Oh, we're going to be in trouble," I gasped. We raced back to the theatre but were only greeted by a moody cleaner who turned us away. We walked back to the front of the cinema, looking round for Drew or May but neither of them were there. At the same time, we reached for our phones and typed a quick text to see where they were.

May replied within seconds.

"Drew is driving me home."

I stared at the text message before hammering in a reply: "What about your dad?"

I only had to wait a few seconds for her to get back to me.

"I thought I'd save him the hassle," she text.

"What about me and Paul?" I typed.

"You two make a lovely couple. If you like him you should totally ask him out."

"We're still at the cinema." My phone was going to be smashed in a moment with the way I was typing into it.

"Oooo, Dawn's on a date! Funny, Drew and I were just there and we didn't see you :)"

"Oh my God!" I cried, shoving my phone into my handbag while Paul looked on with an amused expression on his face, still waiting for a reply from Drew. I rounded on Paul. "They're on their way home. Drew is driving."

"I knew I should have driven," was all that Paul could say. With a defeated sort of sigh, he placed his phone back into his pocket. He walked towards the exit, glancing at me over his shoulder. "The bus it is, then."

"Fantastic. It's almost ten o'clock and we have to catch the bus," I snapped.

As it happened all the buses had stopped for the night by the time Paul and I had walked to the bus stop. I turned to him with my bottom lip trembling. What were we going to do now? Paul tried to call for a taxi but no one was picking up. Fantastic, it looked like we were going to have to walk home.

"I'm so thankful I wore my flats," I said to no one in particular as I tugged my coat around my body. I had to be grateful that Paul kept to a steady pace rather than speeding off like he usually did at school. He hung back, walking by my side through the darkened city streets. "How far is it?"

"About eight miles," he replied. I let out a groan. "I wish I could call someone but our car is off the road at the moment."

"Mum's working late at the hospital," I told him. "At least she's not going to be up worrying about me."

"Which hospital?" Paul asked.

"The one in the next city," I replied. We both let out a sigh.

"Just keep close," he said. I nodded and hurriedly linked arms with him, clasping his elbow with my other hand for extra security. He didn't seem to mind but I swore I heard him mutter something like 'I didn't mean that'.

We walked and walked, all the while I was cursing May and Drew and the position they had put us in. If I could have stayed in the film until the end then we wouldn't be in this mess. We'd only walked a mile when we took a break by the edge of the road. Paul attempted to call for a taxi again but there were none available for another hour. I stared up at him as he clicked the phone off.

"Looks like we'll be walking the whole distance," he said.

By the time e had reached the half way point, the heavens seemed to open and within seconds both Paul and I were drenched to the bone. The rain didn't seem to let up and as the miles passed us by, the roads turned into rivers as the rain continued to fall. It felt like a monsoon of cold water hitting us, like a man was quite literally following us and pouring buckets of water over our heads. The cold water ran down the back of my coat, down my neck and into my top. Sodden, feet squelching, we continued our march towards home, nothing but the thought of warmth and towel leading us onwards.

When we eventually reached my front step, the rain was falling so heavily, it sounded like the garage roof was going to cave in. With numb fingers, I unlocked the door and stumbled into the warmth of the empty house with Paul not far behind me. He stood awkwardly for a few moments, helplessly pulling his top away from his body before letting it flap back into place with a horrid slapping sound. He glanced up at me.

I had been walking beside him for the past few hours. As my joints ached from the strain and the cold, my hair clung to my pale face, I couldn't help but think how ridiculous Paul looked. His already long purple hair was an inch or two longer than normal, the weight of the water smoothing it down so that his ears stuck out at the side of his head. Droplets rolled down from his fringe, along his nose before dropping onto him lips. His clothes seemed too small for him now, the material clinging to every limb and muscle.

And I found this hilarious. No sooner as I looked him up and down, I was on my butt, pointing at him and laughing so loud the noise echoed in the hallway. Paul didn't find it amusing. He looked over at me, scowling, until I fell silent once again, though the stupid smile didn't disappear from my lips.

"Do you want a towel?" I asked.

"That would be great, thank you," he dead-panned in reply.

He rubbed his hair with the towel while I dried my feet with one I had got for myself. Neither of us dared to sit down on sofa so we retired to the kitchen where two tall stools sat underneath the breakfast bar. I watched Paul interestedly as he dried his hair then beat his top to get the excess water out of it. He glanced at me, noticing that I was watching him, but I didn't bother to look away. I smiled at him gently, causing him to grin at me.

"Do you want a hot drink?" I asked.

"No, thank you," he replied. He let out a sigh, turning to stare of the window. The rain beat against the glass, the odd droplet running down the window pane in some half hearted attempt of a race with its less than compliant neighbour. Outside, the wind had picked up, causing the lamp post on the pavement on the opposite side of the road to twitch violently. This seemed to change Paul's mind and he heartily agreed to a cup of tea.

I found it awkward to have a boy in the house, especially when the rest of the house was empty at near midnight. I made sure that I was sat at the opposite side of the sofa to Paul as he slowly drank his tea, his gaze ever wondering to the weather outside.

"Won't your mum worry?" I asked.

"No," he replied no sooner as I had asked. "It's different for a seventeen year old boy. He's expected to be out late at night, especially when he's had a date with a girl."

"Oh, so it was a date?" I teased. Paul smirked into his mug but didn't disagree with me. We sat once more in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until he began a conversation. This seemed odd to me but it also made me realise just how embarrassed he was about the situation too. Paul Shinji ever hardly spoke to any unless he was so uncomfortable he had to open his mouth to talk. It also struck me how well I already knew this boy even though I had hardly anything to do with him previously.

"How long have you and May been friends?" he asked.

"Since she moved in next door," I replied with a shrug. "I was about five and she didn't know anyone else."

"Is she always so negligent?" he questioned, his thumb tracing the pattern on his mug now. I gave a shrug, not really noticing it until now, but yes, I had to admit that May wasn't always the most attentive friend. It was something I had come accustomed to over the years to the point I didn't notice it happening or didn't really care. I guess that's why I liked Misty so much. "Drew's like that. If he has a girl, then he'll stop at nothing to be with her until he gets bored of her."

"How long is that?" I asked.

"About two weeks," Paul replied. "Then he'll pretend to be my best friend for the next week before moving onto the next girl."

"Pretend?"

"It's all pretending, real friends wouldn't do that to each other. It's rather good I'm a loner."

"I suppose."

We fell silent again, now avoiding eye contact. I slowly climbed off the sofa, offering him a small smile when he looked at me quite alarmed.

"Why are you friends with Drew?" I asked him.

"I have no clue," he replied, turning once again to check on the weather outside. "I guess that's just how it is."

My mother woke me up about two am when she walked into the living room and turned the lights on. All three of us jumped. Paul was still sat on the sofa on the opposite end to me, his towel now serving as a blanket. I had been curled up in my seat, hugging myself tightly but now I was on my feet, looking between my mother and Paul. Mum, on the other hand, looked between us and let out a sigh.

"Dare I ask?" she asked.

"Paul was waiting for the rain to slow down," I replied some what lamely. Mum rolled her eyes at me then offered a warm smile to Paul.

"We have a guest room upstairs," she told him in a tone that suggested he had no other choice. He nodded, slowly getting out of his chair and stretching. "I guess your mother knows you're out?"

"Yeah," Paul said. "She won't expect me back until the morning."

"Alright then," mum said, nodding. "Off to bed then you two. And if I catch either of you even glancing at each other's rooms, you'll be out in the rain before you can utter a lie."

"Yes mom," I said as Paul said: "Yes Mrs Berlitz."

Blushing furiously, I showed Paul to the guest room. He shared my embarrassment but seemed glad to have been upgraded from the sofa to a proper bed. As I closed the door to my room I made a silent promise to myself. I was so going to kill May when I saw her.

**Poor Dawn and Paul having to walk home the pouring rain. I would like to see what Dawn will do to May the next time she sees her! **

**Please drop me a review :)**

**RSx**


	3. How the realisation hit

**OK so this is the next chapter of It's Never a Good Idea for you. This is a little shorter than the rest but there's definitely a lot more hard core stuff going on here!**

Big thanks to my reviewers: AuricEspeon, Ready to Fly, Eeveexme, pokegirl185, LovelyLily13, GuiltyCrown09, Cascade00, Dani4Short and Cloud Reflection. You are all amazing :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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**How the realisation hit**

"You left us," was the first thing I said to May even before saying hello to her. She looked at me oddly, like she didn't know what I was talking about but then it dawned on her and she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, we completely forgot about you," May said.

"You didn't text me back on Sunday," I stated.

"Dad doesn't let me use my phone on Sundays," May replied coolly. "I'm sorry, OK? Why do you have to be such a grouch over it?"

"A. You took me to a horror movie, which I don't like. B. You 'set me up' with Paul. C. You abandoned me with Paul. D. I had to walk home in the pouring rain because of point C. Now do you understand why I'm a little grouchy?" I snapped at her.

"Well, if you're going to be like that, I'm going to sit with Drew," May said, collecting her things and walking past me with her nose up in the air.

"Fine," I told her. "Sit next to Drew for all I care."

"I will," she retorted, turning her head to glare at me before continuing on her way. I threw myself in the plastic chair, grumbling under my breath until I was very aware someone was stood close to my table. I looked up at them to find Paul was staring in an unimpressed manner at May.

"Is there any reason why she's sat in my seat?" he asked.

"She wanted to sit next to Drew," I replied shortly. Paul nodded then turned on his heel so he could walk in front of my desk and place his things in May's vacant seat. I stared at him wondering why on earth he was sitting there. People would start to talk – Paul Shinji was sitting with Dawn Berlitz. I was about to tell him to go to his own seat when Misty waltzed into the scene, staring just as surprised at Paul.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Not sitting near those two," was all he said. He jumped over the table coolly and took up May's seat, offering me nothing but a blank look.

"Sounds desperate," Misty said to no one in particular. She sat down quietly, taking her things out of her bag carefully as she avoided looking at Paul. Eventually, though, she turned to me. "What happened Saturday?"

"They abandoned us at the Cinema!" I hissed at Misty.

"No?" Misty gasped, horrified.

"At gone ten at night!"

"Are you serious?"

"We had to walk home in the pouring rain. By the time we got to my house, we were drenched!"

"You got caught up in that?" Misty said. "That rain storm completely flooded the bottom end of our garden."

"And she asked me why I being such a 'grouch' about it," I went on.

"No?" Misty gasped again. "What a-"

And she unleashed a good few week's worth of derogatory words about May ranging from spiteful to plain mean. Paul looked on with some interest, even smiling at her as if he was impressed someone could contain so much rage. Even I was impressed she had been able to keep this under wraps for so long, glad that the teacher hadn't yet arrived. When she stopped, panting slightly from talking without taking one breath, she leant back in her chair with a smile on her face.

"That felt good," she said.

"I bet it did," I agreed, smiling at her.

"I do feel sorry for you, Dawn," she said.

"Why me?" I asked, tilting my head to one side.

"Because she's your best friend – that's death 'til you part," she teased me. I pouted but didn't have time to reply as the teacher walked in, snapping at everyone to shut up. Obviously he wasn't in a very good mood today, not that I could blame him. It was hardly surprising that half way through the lesson he suddenly halted and screeched across the room: "You two on the back row, stop playing footsie!"

May and I didn't talk again until Wednesday. Somehow, and I wasn't sure how, Paul and May had decided to swap seats without actually talking to each other. Paul seemed to switch almost automatically since the first lesson on Monday. He walked alongside Misty and I with his hands in his pockets, looking quite glad for the company. I guessed that with the amount of time Drew spent chasing girls, Paul was often left to his own devices and solitude. Now he was left with two people who shared his annoyance with his best friend. Both Misty and I agreed silently that Paul was much better company than May anyway.

By the time Wednesday lunch came round, May had wormed her way into our presence again wearing an expression which would melt the coldest of hearts.

"I'm so sorry," she said to me. "I really am. I didn't mean to snap at you about the cinema thing."

I just stared at her.

"Can we forget it ever happened?" she asked. I thought for a moment then let out a sigh.

"Sure," I replied, not even bothering to fight against it any more. She beamed at me then looked across at Paul, wondering what he was doing sat on our table. He merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Eating," he replied.

"I thought you preferred to be alone," May commented as she sat down. Paul shrugged.

"Its not a preference," he said. "Usually I have no choice in the matter."

He said nothing else, hurriedly gathering up his things and slouching away from the table with only a nod to Misty and me. His absence was immediately felt by both of us and we stared sorrowfully at his empty chair.

"If I'd known you'd been left with Paul then I would have come back sooner," May said. "Is he as bad as they say?"

"He was rather pleasant," Misty replied. "He got my sarcasm anyway."

"He is nice," I said with a nod. "When we walked home on Saturday, he made sure I had got safely home. He refused to leave me at the end of the road."

"I thought we were forgetting about Saturday?" May said.

"Sorry," I muttered. But I couldn't forget about Saturday night. I wasn't sure if it was a half hearted attempt to get into my pants or a genuine fail on his behalf. He was the first one to fall asleep, I was sure of it or was I? When I bid him goodnight, did I see a glimmer of warmth in his eye? I couldn't forget it, not after I woke up the next morning to find him already at the breakfast table talking to my mother about her work. She hardly got up before twelve after working a late shift but there she was, so happy to talk to the strange boy I had led home the night before.

I stared down at my lap while I thought about this then I closed my eyes, willing the thoughts to leave my head completely, but they still dwelled, going round and round and round in my mind. Even as I walked home with Misty by my side, I found I was still thinking about these things.

"Misty?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Paul stayed over on Saturday night. We fell asleep on the sofa," I stated. Misty didn't seem to be surprised by this at all. I felt a bit of encouragement swell inside me. "Since then, I can't stop thinking about him."

"It doesn't surprise me," she said finally. "I wondered what was going on between you."

"I'm sure its one sided," I told her. "But what do I do?"

"Nothing, you do nothing," she said simply. She looked at me in an apologetic sort of way, a lopsided smile pulling at her lips. "It's never a good idea to get involved with someone who is the best friend of your best friend's boyfriend. If I thought May and Drew were going to make it, then I would say go for it, but those two are like the Titanic: we just don't know when the iceberg is going to hit."

"No, I understand," I said, fighting tears back. "It's just difficult. I don't think I've ever felt about someone like this before."

"Sorry, Dawn," Misty said. She reached over to me and grabbed my shoulder in a comforting sort of way, beaming at me.

I managed to not cry until I was safely in my bedroom, then the tirade started and could not be stopped until my body ached from heaving so much. I cried long after my throat stung with every breath and my teeth throbbed in my mouth. The pillow was completely soaked through after I had finished crying. Then I just laid on my bed in the fetal position until I fell asleep, not bothering to go downstairs to retrieve food for my growling stomach.

When I awoke on Thursday morning, I became horribly aware that I would have to deal with Paul today. I got up, got dressed and left for school, not bothering with breakfast because I didn't feel like it. Misty didn't say anything to me as I sat down in my seat, her eyes full of worry but she knew better than to ask me what was wrong.

I hardly concentrated all day, my mind flickering back to Paul every few minutes. Why did I feel this way about him? Every so often I caught myself turning to look at him but stopped just in time and resumed my gaze on the teacher. At lunch I couldn't touch any food again. May asked me what was wrong but I denied anything. She wasn't completely convinced but she accepted my reply without any further question.

The same thing repeated itself for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday when even Ash was asking me if I was OK. I had managed to eat a little over the weekend while I was free of school but as soon as Monday morning came again – I didn't want to know anything about food. Thoroughly depressed, I kept my head down and away from the gaze of my peers and teachers so I could avoid any questions.

"Are you alright?" everything seemed to catch up with me as I stood at my locker unprotected as May and Misty had gone to the bathroom. Here Paul had simply strolled up to me and thrown the question directly at me. I didn't dare turn to face him, flattening myself against the lockers instead.

"Yeah," I replied weakly. He didn't seem to accept my answer but walked away, sensing that I didn't want to talk about it. Tears pricked at my eye lids once more and I felt the need throw up. I stood frozen in place until the nausea wore off, then I closed my locker and walked towards my next lesson.

Misty didn't walk home with me that evening. Neither did May. Misty had to meet her sisters at the mall while May had a date with Drew. So I walked along the pavement with my eyes case downwards, thinking how I was going to get over this little crush of mine. It seemed impossible. I had had crushes before but this one seemed different. This seemed bigger. This seemed worse than anything I had felt before. It couldn't be anything more after all I had only known and talked to Paul for just over a week. That wasn't enough time to develop real feelings for him. Was it?

"Dawn!"

I stopped dead in my tracks, then turned to see Paul jogging over to me. It was uncharacteristic to see him rushing anywhere but there he was, jogging with his hair flying out behind him gracefully as he hurried towards me.

"I'm glad I caught up to you," he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm worried about you," he stated. "You look like hell."

"I'm just... going through some stuff," I said. "It's fine, really."

"You don't look fine," he told me. "You look pale, Misty says you haven't been eating and quite frankly, even Drew is wondering what is going on. You're worrying everyone."

"I'm fine," I repeated. "I just want to go home."

"I'm not one to badger people," Paul said as I turned my back on him. "But I really am worried about you."

"I'm fine," I said again. Then before I knew what I was doing, I was running. My feet thudded against the pavement as tears filled my eyes. My vision blurred and my eyes stung. All I had done recently was cry. My skin was raw from the tissues and sleeves I had used to wipe the tears away. I stumbled over a loose grate but continued running all the way back to my house, through the gate and I collapsed onto the step to the back door and just sobbed.

The slowing down of feet made me realise that, to my horror, Paul had followed me. He panted lightly as he walked through the gate into the back garden. He looked down at me. I expected him to say something but he didn't. He slipped his satchel off his shoulder then sat down beside me. He made do move to comfort me, just let me cry into my hands. After a few minutes, the cries became less and less and I looked round at him, tears still streaming down my face. He let out a sigh.

"It's nice to see I'm handling it better than you," he commented.

"W-what?" I hiccuped.

"This," he replied. "Us."

"Us?" I asked. He looked at me, nodding once.

"It's not a good idea, you know," he stated, then got to his feet. "But I do want you to know, I'm really not worth this. Just... get over it."

He picked up his satchel and left, closing the gate behind him. I stared after him in horror. His words cutting deeply into my heart and shattering it.

I suppose it was then that I realised I loved him, as stupid as it sounded. This boy I hardly knew apart from in passing. This guy who was mean, cold and grumpy, I just knew I loved him.

I also realised then that the fall was inevitable. I had already fallen once and I was due to fall again.

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**Poor Dawn. How is she going to get over this? Her fall from grace is creeping up on her. What will she do about it?**

**Let me know what you think!**

**RSx**


	4. How my life turned upside down

**Woo! Chapter number 4! I am really struggling with how Dawn falls from grace. When I started this mini-fic, I had an idea on how it was going but it has suddenly taken a different turn and I'm stuck!**

**In this chapter, Dawn deals with the aftermath of being rejected by Paul. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

**How my life turned upside down**

I walked into school the next day, not really knowing how I was functioning. I seemed oddly out of place, walking slowly through the busy halls while everyone buzzed around me so clearly wrapped up in their own lives. I made it to my seat in the first class of the day but rather than unpacking my bag, I put it on the table top and used it as a pillow to rest my already aching head.

I only stirred when I felt May's hand on my shoulder and even then I barely looked up.

"You're really starting to scare me, Dawn," she told me in a stern yet caring way. "That settles it. You're coming round to mine tonight and we're going to eat lots of ice cream."

"I thought ice cream was reserved for break ups," I mumbled into my bag.

"I'll make an exception for you," was her reply. I sat up in my seat managing to smile at her weakly. She didn't return it, instead she looked in shock at how bad I actually looked. I knew I was a mess with red eyes and pale skin, a permanent unhappy look on my face. My hair was stuck up slightly, not its usually pruned and kept style.

"Thank you," I muttered. I made the mistake of glancing towards the door just as Paul walked in. He was too busy tapping onto his phone to even look up at me. Tears threatened to pour and I looked away, scowling at my bag instead.

"Wow," May said, obviously still watching Paul. "That's odd."

"What is?" I asked turning to face her with a fierce gaze.

"Paul," she replied, pointing at him and lowering her voice. "Who would he be texting?"

"Drew?" I suggested.

"In such a calm manner?" May asked, smirking. She looked at me offering me a warm smile. I started to feel uneasy about what she was going to say next. Would she suggest he was texting another girl? No, Paul didn't like other girls. He wouldn't be so cruel to me, would he? May must have sensed the tears creeping up on me and she laughed cheerfully. "I wonder if he's in trouble with his parole officer or something."

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Face it, sweetie," she replied in a matter of fact tone. "That seems more likely than him texting anyone else. Who would you think it would be? A girl? Oh no."

I stared at May wondering if she had everything figured out in her head. She knew about my feelings, that was the only answer for her kind words now. As it happened, Paul wasn't texting his parole officer, he was texting his brother. Around lunch time, Paul just took off without so much as a word to Drew or any of the teachers. While slightly worried about him, I decided to go to May's house after school.

"So," she said as she flopped down onto her bed and smiled at me. I took up my usual residence on the bean bag she kept in the corner of the room, right next to the sliding doors of her wardrobe. "I had an inkling you liked Paul but I didn't want to say anything."

"Did Misty tell you?" I asked her. She nodded her head.

"I asked her if this was the case and she said it was," May said. "She also said that it was a bad idea since Drew has a poor record with girls."

"Paul said that too," I mumbled. May stared across at me for a moment, understanding that something had gone off between the two of us. It didn't take her long to click onto what had happened the day before in the garden. Slowly she let out a long breath then threw herself backwards onto the mattress.

"Men are so annoying," May sighed.

"Why do you date so many of them, then?" I asked, purely out of interest. May gave a shrug.

"I know Drew is a girl chaser," May replied. "I know that he likes to get in their pants then move on when he's bored of them. Why do you think I've been so wrapped up with him? I wanted to enjoy being his girlfriend until he decided to call it quits."

She sat up now, staring at me.

"He makes you feel great, you know?" she went on. "He calls me sweetie and takes me everywhere. The way he kisses is to die for."

"And even though you know know what he wants, you're still going along with it?" I asked, surprised that she was telling me all of this.

"It's great experience," May told me with a nod. "It's like work experience. You learn from it."

"Do you actually like him?" I asked, a laugh threatening to take over me. She nodded shyly.

"He is really nice but I'm not totally committed to this lasting longer than next week," she said. She jumped off her bed and walked over to the door where she hung her calendar on a small nail. She unhooked it and brought it over to me, pointing at a circled date in the next week. "See, this is when I expect our relationship to end."

"You've really planned this," I muttered. "I can't believe I had you all wrong. I thought you didn't care about anyone but him."

"I'm sorry," she said. Her smile returned but her eyebrows also drooped to show that she felt bad about the whole thing. "And leaving you at the cinema, I can't believe I did that!"

"I thought we weren't mentioning that ever again?" I asked dumbly.

"That's right, we're not," May told me, winking at me. "I still feel so guilty about that. I can't believe you walked all the way home with Paul!"

"In the rain," I added.

"Stop it!" she laughed. "Stop it!"

She laughed a little while longer before she suddenly flung herself forwards to hug me tightly. I returned her hug, finding that I was laughing a little too. As I hugged May, I realised just how wrong I was about her. I mean she had messed up massively over the last few weeks but here she was apologising for it. Would I always be in this circle with her? Would it always be me who would forgive her and would it always be her who felt guilty? I pulled away from her.

"Paul told me to get over it, that he's not worth this," I told her. "But he didn't know that you were expecting Drew and you to fall apart."

"That's why I'm telling you this," May said. "I can see how much this is hurting you. You can't care about me or what's a good idea. Sometimes you've just got to jump in and not care what anyone else thinks. I won't hate you for it. Misty will be over joyed – she thinks Paul is so cool."

"Thanks May," I said, feeling more tears threatening to pour. I wiped a few out of my eyes before they could fall or start stinging my swollen eyelids. May leaned forwards to hug me again. This time I didn't resist, I wept into her blazer.

* * *

"Hey," I said to Paul the next day as he rummaged in his locker for something. He looked at me, surprised to see me so cheerful. "Is everything OK? You left early yesterday, I was worried."

"Yeah," he replied nonchalantly. "My grandma escaped from her nursing home again."

"Is she alright?" I asked, surprised that he mentioned this so easily. He nodded, returning to his locker.

"Yeah," he said. "I found her at the ice cream parlour near the nursing home. She only let me take her back after she had bought me a cone and we'd both eaten. She's barmy."

"Why did she escape?" I asked.

"She said she was bored," Paul replied. He straightened up and closed his locker. "By the time I caught up with her she had been bowling, helped a bride to be pick out the perfect wedding dress and found a date for Friday night."

I giggled at his story but this only made him shake his head.

"And you are sure you two are related?" I teased. He let out a sigh and nodded grimly.

"Do you know how many times I've looked through the adoption records at city hall?" he asked. "You're looking better today."

"Yeah," I said, beaming at him. "I had a chat with May last night about everything."

"And what did she say?" he asked.

"That you were right," I replied, winking at him cheekily. "You aren't worth it."

With that I turned on my heel and walked away, feeling his eyes watching me until I was swallowed up by the crowd. The grin on my face didn't waiver until I turned the corner into the science corridor and almost walked into Drew. I stumbled back, about to apologise when he rounded on me.

"What do you think you're playing at?" he snapped at me. I jumped out of my skin at his tone, not quite understanding what he was going on about. "May just dumped me."

"She what?" I gawped at him.

"She told me it was over between us two but that she had had fun," he growled, taking a step towards me. I was shocked to the bone. She broke up with him? She seriously broke up with him? Why would she do that? Oh no, I hope she didn't do it because of me and Paul. "This is your fault, I know it. You've not been very supportive of us, have you?"

"I was sceptical!" I snapped back at him. "Come on Drew, your track record isn't very good. I was just waiting for you to break her heart."

"Why? What do I do?" he asked.

"What do you do?" I scoffed. "Nothing Drew, you are totally innocent. All those other girls just magically came down with a case of a broken heart, did they? You give men a bad name. Don't blame this on me, Drew. I never said anything bad about you to May."

I pushed past him roughly and headed down the corridor until I reached the classroom. Just as I twisted the door handle, Drew called out:

"You're going to be sorry, Berlitz. Paul is far too loyal to me to give it all up on a girl like you."

I turned to stare at him in horror. Had I really been that transparent with my feelings when even Drew knew exactly what was going on? Without another word, I pushed into the classroom and hurried over to my seat beside Misty. She was already there, staring at me curiously.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Drew and May have split up," I replied. "The worst thing is, he thinks its my fault."

"She dumped him?" Misty gasped. "Never saw that coming."

"Me neither," I agreed, nodding. "But... he threatened me. He threatened me about Paul."

I told her everything that had come to pass in the last few hours, my talk with May, my interaction with Paul by the locker then Drew's threat in the corridor. She listened intently, nodding every now and again. Finally, when I had finished, she leant back in her chair and digested all the information.

"Honey," she said at last. "I hate to say it, but I think you're screwed. Majorly screwed."

"What can I do?" I asked, half pleading with her. She shrugged.

"You can't do anything right now," she told me. I nodded slowly, know that she was right but I didn't want to admit it.

When I related all of this back to May after class, she seemed just as shocked as I was. Once the shock subsided she got angry, storming off to have words with Drew. That didn't go exactly to plan when she returned ten minutes later looking heart broken. He'd found a new girl to be with instead.

"Nice to see he really did like me," she muttered glumly. "He didn't even wait a day to find someone new."

"I'm so sorry, May," I said.

"It's my fault," she replied shaking her head. "I was the one who dumped him."

"And why did you do that?" Misty asked. I was interested to know this too. It was odd that May had suddenly decided to dump Drew without telling either of us beforehand.

"I thought I could handle it better this way," she explained. "I mean, I do like him but... I didn't think it would be great for him to end it with me. I was going to apologise for not talking to him about it first and tell him the reason why I was ending it, but he had that damned Briana in his lap."

"Ew," Misty and I groaned. That's just what we needed, one of the cheerleaders getting cosy with Drew.

"Paul was there too," she went on. "He looked a little miffed at Drew's behaviour but he told me to clear off."

"I suppose he'll be taking Drew's side in this, then?" Misty asked. Both May and I nodded in agreement after all that's what best friends did. No matter how wrong their friends may be, a best friend would always stick up for their friends no matter what.

Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I turned my head to see what it was. I saw Paul walking with one of Briana's friends, Ursula I think her name was, with her arm linked with his. I turned away almost instantly, taking in a deep breath. They came closer until I could hear exactly what they were saying. Beside me, May gave a gasp of shock then fell silent so she too could hear what was going on.

"Paul, you should come over to my place sometime," Ursula purred.

"I'd rather not," he replied simply.

"But we'll be spending a lot of time together," she went on. "After all, Drew is with Briana now."

"Only until she puts out," Paul muttered under his breath. I couldn't help but laugh at this, quickly pretending to sneeze as the pair of them walked past me. Ursula stopped right behind me, turning to scowl at me so fiercely that I shuddered.

"What was that, Berlitz?" she snapped. I turned round to face her, smiling softly.

"Sorry, excuse me," I replied. "I think I have a cold coming on."

As luck would have it, my nose tingled and I sneezed for real this time. I covered it just in time, then looked apologetically at her. She seemed sold at my excuse and dragged Paul away. He seemed to linger a little while then walked onwards, smirking to himself as Ursula tried to persuade him to come round to her house again.

When they were out of ear shot, May gave a low squeal of excitement.

"He so likes you," she told me. "You should go for it, Dawn. No matter what."

"Yeah, screw Drew," Misty agreed. I didn't say either way what I would be doing. I could either hide away from this or go for it. In my mind I was a little apprehensive about going up against girls like Ursula and Briana or guys like Drew, but I knew that if I pushed a little bit and Paul felt the same way, he would be more than happy to meet me half way. That would be enough for me. I nodded finally deciding to do whatever I could to win him over.

My fall from grace was cemented.

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**So the next chapter is when Dawn falls from grace. How will it happen? I have no idea yet!**

**Please Review!**

**RSx**


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